RWAs becoming the urban khaps?

As long as you are paying the rent, no RWA or landlord can define who should be your guest, say lawyers, adding that the RWAs hold no legal position to come up with diktats for the residentsNiharika Lal | TNN | August 10, 2017, 17:30 IST

If you are a single working professional, and renting a house in a gated society or condominium pretty much anywhere in the country, there's a good chance that you have one constant factor in your life - the Residents' Welfare Association. They will issue bizarre diktats and try to control every aspect of your life – the pets you can keep, the visitors you can have, the timeline you have to adhere to. And if you refuse to jump through their hoops, they will leave no stones unturned to make life miserable for you.

The lack of any legal authority whatsoever will definitely not stop them. However, the RWA of Gurgaon's Essel Tower took its self-assumed jurisdiction too far when it accused certain single residents of "supporting prostitution". The war between single tenants and the RWA has been going on since April, when the RWA decided to ban single residents from having guests of the opposite gender. On Friday night, when some female residents opposed the rule, they were accused by a RWA member of "supporting prostitution in the society". Single tenants of the society tell us that after the long struggle to find accommodation, they don't have the energy to fight the RWA and most are planning to move out by August end.

The RWA has no legal right to restrict someone's movement or invade someone's privacy: LawyersAs long as you are paying the rent, no RWA or landlord can define who should be your guest, say lawyers, adding that the RWAs hold no legal position to come up with diktats for the residents.

Advocate Geeta Luthra says that coming up with directives on who should be your guest is not only a violation of human rights and privacy, it is also a case of someone trying to restrict one’s freedom of living. Additional Solicitor General and senior advocate Pinky Anand also says that restricting anyone’s movement is beyond the powers of the RWAs. "Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) are voluntary organisations set up to look after the society. At the best, they can monitor issues like security, cleanliness and the number of guards appointed in the society, but restricting someone's movement or interfering with someone's privacy isn't in their power. Their anxiety to be the moral police cannot extend to the point of denying someone his or her right to privacy, it is absolutely uncalled for. Since RWAs have no legal right to come up with such diktats, such rules can always be challenged and residents can file a civil suit. Concerns of any organisation cannot go beyond logical parameters. Monitoring is one thing, but restricting someone's right to privacy is another and the RWAs cannot come up with such restrictions," says Anand.

'The RWA pressurised our landlord to not lease the flat to bachelors'"I moved in with three friends in January this year, and one of my flatmates left last month. So when we went to tell the RWA about a new flatmate, one member said, "Koi nayi ladki yahan nahin aayegi, sirf teen (3) log raho." After 2-3 days, we got a notice from our landlord to vacate the place without any explanation. Later, we got to know that the RWA cooked up a story about us. Then, they also mailed a notice to all the house owners saying, 'Either give your flat to a family or keep it unoccupied, but in no condition can you give it to a bachelor.' We'll leave by the end of August."

- Priya Singh*, 27, management trainee at a firm in Noida who shares her flat with three roommates

'Even hostel wardens allow male friends, but this society doesn't'"The ban is not just on people of the opposite gender but on all visitors. I can't call my sister, a female friend or even a female colleague at my place. One of my friends moved out recently, and when she came back to collect her stuff, the guards didn't allow her. It was when we argued that her name is still in the lease, the guard allowed entry to her. But they said that the guy who also came with her, can't enter because it is against the RWA rules. Even in hostels, the rules are flexible, and your warden allows you entry."

-Diksha*, 26, works as a content writer and shares a flat with three other roommates

Last month, several Noida societies refused to rent houses to single tenants

'Our flat owners and neighbours sympathize with us but nobody speaks against the RWA'"In April, after the incident, some people took signatures of their neighbours on the statement that said that the neighbours don't have any problems with them. Following that, the RWA sent a notice to all the flat owners to not support any bachelors, and that the bachelors will not be given flats in the society. So now, nobody speaks against the RWA."

- Param Kumar*, 30 a CA who shares a flat with two roommates

'If you argue with the guard, legal action can be taken against you'"In our society's 'rulebook' it is mentioned that if a person misbehaves with the guards, then a legal action can be taken against him/her. These guards also behave rudely with us and ask bizarre questions to our guests. But we can't argue!"

- Nisha Thakur*, 25, who works in a travel company in Gurgaon and shares a flat with two roommates

Currently, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is levied at 12 per cent on payments made for under-construction property or ready-to-move-in flats where completion certificate has not been issued at the time of sale.